Saving Grace
by Steefwaterbutter
Summary: Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons. Hiccup, Jack, and Rapunzel are swimming together when Jack is dragged underwater. Will the others be able to save him in time?


"But _MUM!_"

Her mother looked at her despairingly. "I'm sorry, Merida," she sighed. "But it's just too important to miss."

Merida gave a "humph" and flopped down on her bed.

"You remember Lord Berkely? He's coming to visit today."

"Not _him!_" Merida groaned. "He's th' most boring person I ever met!"

"I'll see you downstairs in an hour."

With that Elinor left the bedchamber, leaving Merida to slam her head against the wall with frustration.

* * *

The midday sun filtered through the trees as, Hiccup coasted to the ground on Toothless. The young viking patted the Night Fury's head, the latter purring in response. He looked up and saw Jack, brown cloak flapping in the wind, land a few feet away from him. "Ha!" the viking shouted in triumph. "Toothless and I beat you!"

"May I add it's the first in twenty tries?" Jack added mischievously.

Toothless spat a plasma blast in front of the winter spirit, sending him flying backwards. "Hey!" Jack yelled. "No fair!"

"Would you guys stop bickering for once in your lives?"

Both turned to see a young, beautiful girl step out from the trees, her long golden hair dragging behind her. "Mother will be gone until sundown," she said, then added hesitantly. "I still don't feel good about lying to her."

"Aw, lighten up, 'Punzie!" Jack called out, leaping into the air. "C'mon, follow me! I know a great place to go swimming!"

"Wait a sec!" Hiccup yelped. "What about Merida?"

"Got a message from her," Jack replied. "She can't come."

Rapunzel climbed behind Hiccup, onto Toothless. "That's too bad," she murmured.

They soon made it to a crystal clear pond. The cloudless sky had turned it into a deep, rich blue, and it sparkled in the sunlight.

"Follow me!" Jack dived into the pond, throwing his staff on the bank.

Rapunzel and Hiccup needed no second orging. Both jumped off Toothless, who swam to shore, shaking off the water discustedly. The water felt wonderful; cool, and refreshing, but not cold. All three were splashing each other, when suddenly Jack noticed something glinting on the bottom.

_Might as well check it out,_ Jack thought diving underwater. As he swam down, he felt something cold and slimy wrap around his leg. He tried to shrug it off, but it only tightened it's hold. Jack's annoyance turned to panic as another wrapped around his other leg. Bubbles foamed out of his lips as he helplessly struggled, feeling the air in his lungs disappearing with every passing moment. His head started to pound, and black dots clouded his vision. Then, nothing.

* * *

"_Where's Jack_?"

Hiccup stopped in mid-splash to stare in horror at Rapunzel. Without wasting another second he plunged underwater. Rapunzel grabbed his arm and dragged him back up.

"Stop!" she cried. "Just... wait." And to Hiccup's surprise, she began to sing rapidly. "Flower-gleam-and-glow-let-your-power-shine-" _and her hair began to glow_.

The water was now icy cold, biting into their skin like thousands of tiny knives as they sank beneith the water. Then they saw him. Swaying gently, limply. Vines wrapped around his arms and legs. Hiccup and Rapunzel pulled on the vines, but they couldn't loosen him. Air quickly running out, Hiccup remembered when Toothless had been trapped underwater. _Toothless!_

No time to waste on explanations, Hiccup glanced at Rapunzel and swam back to the surface.

"Toothless! Jack-trapped-underwater!" he gasped out.

The dragon jumped over him and into the pond. Moments later he returned, dragging Rapunzel and Jack with him. He gently set them on the ground, then moved out of the way as Hiccup ran over to them. "You okay?" he hurriedly asked Rapunzel. When she nodded through her coughing, Hiccup turned to Jack. The white-haired boy wasn't moving.

"Oh no. No!" Hiccup began pounding Jack on the back, but he only started choking, body jerking and spasoming.

"Stop!" cried Rapunzel. "You're only hurting him!"

Hiccup sank to his knees, heart pounding. Rupunzel gently turned Jack over onto his back. Then she wrapped some of her hair around him, closed her eyes, and began to softly sing,

_Flower gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine._

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the fates' design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine._

As she sang, once more her hair glowed. Jack slowly stopped jerking, and lay quietly in the grass. When Rapunzel had finished, she opened her eyes, but neither her nor Hiccup dared move. For a moment all was still, then Jack's eyes flew open, and he was heaving up water and gasping for breath.

"Are- are you alright?" Rapunzel asked him quickly.

"Except for my head, which feels like it's going to explode... yeah." Jack's face was unusualy solmn. "What happened?"

Rapunzel pulled on a strand of hair. "We don't exactly know. We were just splashing around when I noticed you were gone. There were these thick vines wrapped around your legs. They... were whispering strange words... about you. We couldn't get you free, so Hiccup got Toothless and saved you."

"You guys saved me. I don't know what would have happened if I stayed down there long enough. I don't know what to say."

Hiccup grinned a little. "How about letting Toothless and I win a few races?"

"Hah!" Jack jumped up. "That's impossibe."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really!"

Rapunzel sighed dispairingly and looked at Toothless. "Boys..." she groaned, "Can't they _ever_ stop fighting?"

Toothless purred and nuzzled his head into her palm.

* * *

**A/N:**

**That was fun! It was rather nice to take a break from Here Be Dragons, and Spirit, and I love the Big Four. I have to say Merida's my least favorite, though. :P Not that I hate her or anything...**

**Inspiried by a peice by 1JoyDreamer from deviantart :)**


End file.
